Entwined Hearts
by Vasilia
Summary: A long-shot about a character that was only ever seen once in an episode called, "Jeepers, Creepers, Where is Peepers?" His name is Oko, and this is the story of what happened after the director yelled "CUT!" and the cameras quit rolling. Oko X OC


**Disclaimer: **I do not own "Dexter's Laboratory" nor the characters from the series or anything else that pertains to it. However, Genndy Tartakovsky does.

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"Aaaaand CUT!" The director called once all of the characters finished their last lines. "make sure we have a bottle of champagne and a basket filled with tokens of our gratitude waiting in Mr. Koosalagoopagoop'sroom before he arrives." The director said leaning over and whispering to his assistant, his eyes never leaving the cluster of actors that were moving offstage. The assistant nodded curtly once before assuring the director, "I'm on it boss." before promptly running off to fulfill the task assigned to him.

The director wriggled his fat-bottomed self out of his chair and glided easily across the floor despite his bulk; he wrung his hands once before reaching out to take the fluffy Kooslander into his embrace. "Koosy-ee, baby-ee, you were phenomenal out there. Are you sure you don't want to stick around and partake in another episode? You know Dex and Dee love you to pieces, and so does most of our staff, why even the Chief loves you! And that is quite the rare privilege, you're in the top tier man amongst the stars! What do ya say?" The director was positively sweating with this speech of his knowing that this would be a huge achievement if he managed to convince THE Koos to stay on for a few more episodes as a guest star if not as a permanent fixture in the show.

"Gee, I don't know about all that, I promised the missus that this would be my final episode and believe you me, you do not want to see her angry..." As he exited the stage and through the cartoon screen and into the "real" world the director had to do his best to suppress a shudder.

Without the softening of the cartoon screen, Koosalagoopagoop -much like other cartoons as well- appeared a little too hard, nowhere nearly as cute and friendly as he appeared to be on the show. HIs voice was a deeper baritone and his laughter sounded like a particularly intense thunderstorm.

"See!" He exclaimed, his heavy voice bouncing off the walls causing a few nearby staff to wince. "Just mentioning my darling frightens people! She's actually the sweetest little lady you ever did meet but if you can make it worthwhile I might be able to persuade her."

The director clapped Koosy on his shoulder with excitement. "Oh believe me my good man, we can, the Chief like I said, adores you. Shall we take this discussion to your dressing room, where we can talk business in private?"

"Lead the way Mr. Director." Koosy said amicably, allowing the director to wrap an arm around his shoulders and escort him personally to his room. They passed the assistant who had just came back from his task, at the sight of the director and Koos he bowed once and then nodded discreetly to the director.

During this whole affair a sullen character had looked on jealous of everything that had just transpired between the director and one his co-stars. Except he wasn't a star, not in the way Koosy was. He didn't have the director gushing at him with praise and promise of fortune. He was simply a guy who's fifteen minutes of fame might have just passed in the quick ten minutes the episode consisted of.

"Hey kid, ya mind getting off the set, we have another show to prep for. If you're not in it you're trespassing, now beat it." The custodian shooed him forward using the stick end of his broom handle until the guy was moving forward of his own accord.

He bowed his head in shame and cast a quick backwards glance at the janitor who was muttering and shaking his head in disgust. He peeled his eyes away from the sight of the janitor as he felt the depression began to build up again and forced himself for the second time that day through the cartoon screen. There was a sickening sensation of limbs and muscles being stretched and torn and right when believed it could not be any more agonizing the pain ended. He had traveled through the screen and his body was back to its normal form.

His frame was back to being just a little heavy on the muscular side, -he couldn't be classified as lithe but he wasn't overly toned either- his skin was back to its normal blue hue, -not the pale wasted one the screen had created to make him appear even more sickly and evil- and his hair had calmed down severely until it was normal again, for him at least.

It was a darker blue so that it could stand out from his skin with navy undertones, the only "spiky" part of his hair was his bangs and only to a point; they cascaded down either side of his face each section progressively longer than the previous one until the last area to be properly called part of his bangs hung down to his collarbone instead of to his waist like the cartoon had portrayed. His ears had shortened by two inches on either side and were far more angular and pointed than the ones the screen had created. Altogether his face had softened and sharpened at the same time, it was no longer absurd but instead wise and quizzical, emotion was very difficult to read upon it however; eyes the shade of dark periwinkle didn't help in this endeavour either.

Unfortunately some things were not affected by the cartoon screen, in this instance it was his costume in its entirety. The tight-fitting leather heeled-boots and gloves, red cape, and faux gold armour and adornments were totally real and were put on him for the episode. They were not at all impacted however he discovered that everything was once more two sizes too small for his body. His nails would have to be filed down and removed of their polish but overall the costume was extremely distressing to wear in public.

On the whole he was quite normal looking -save for the costume he was still dressed in-, as were all characters that wanted to be stars and paid the price of being subjected to the harsh twisting of the screens. Truly he was just a simple human-ish elf that had been made into a figure far more embarrassing than he could have ever foreseen.

He heard giggling and saw some of the staff pointing and laughing at him. Colour bursting into his cheeks he grabbed the edges of his cape -fighting against the ridiculously large shoulder plates that they were attached to- and reined them in covering his body as best as he could. He shuffled off to once side out of their line of sight and sighed, releasing the cape as he did so where it floated gently back its normal alignment.

"Ahem." A voice huffed from in front of him. He straightened and looked down to find a very professional looking lady standing before him. "You are the individual that played the character one ah," She scans the clipboard she possesses in one hand quickly. "Hookocho, yes?" She pronounced each syllable slowly and dramatically, accenting them with a severeness that made him wince internally.

"And if I am?" He said fearful he was in trouble for something he was unaware, the only thing that kept coming to mind was public indecency.

"Tsk. Don't waste my time kid, either you are or you're not. Now answer my question." She glared at him, pushing her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose as she scrutinized him.

"I-I am. How can I help you?" He told her as he weighed the consequences of possibly crossing her.

"The Chief wants to see you." She turned sharply on her heel and took four brisk steps across the almost empty room before pivoting around. "But first, go change into these. I'd hate for you to displease the Chief on account of your apparel." She deftly tossed him a set of clothes he didn't notice she had tucked away in the nook of her arm. He caught them and made a beeline for the closest changing room before she could criticize anything else about his looks.

He ripped off the annoying and garish armour, relishing how his newly freed skin felt against the studio air. The clothes he had been given consisted of grey tunic with matching slacks. There was no undershirt to the high collared tunic coat, only a pitch black sash scarf thing that he wrapped loosely across his shoulders. The tunic was embroidered with black stretching lines that ended in curved hooks with small points sticking out of their middles.

He left the room unsure of how he looked but a curt nod of approval from the lady told him he was in the clear. As she led him to an elevator he did not know even existed he finally gathered the courage to speak. "So who are you exactly?" The doors to the lift closed and the elevator began to rise towards the top floor before he got an answer.

"I am the Chief's primary assistant, higher than a secretary but not high enough to gain a better title than such." She said all this while focusing steadily upon the panel of changing floor lights.

"Who is the Chief? What is he or she even like? And why does he or she want to see me?" He spouted off before he control himself, one question tumbling after another out of his mouth.

"You ask a lot of questions." She replied briskly. He fierce words shut him up instantly. The lift stopped and the doors opened to reveal a dim hallway. The secretary struck out an arm to prevent the doors from closing. "The Chief awaits. Better to hurry, for your sake."

He looked startled and his face paled as he stepped out of the elevator. He turned in time to see the doors close. "You're not coming?" He whimpered.

"Of course not, I have other business to attend to that doesn't consist of babysitting you." She muttered darkly as the metal doors clicked shut.

He inhaled deeply before he turned to face the hallway. He carefully put one foot in front of the other until he almost collided with two great mahogany doors at the end of the corridor. He knocked twice and lifted his hand to knock again when a low voice from within the room bade him to enter.

He opened one of the doors with a slight push and it swung shut faintly behind him. "You called me uh...Chief?" He could see a dark figure standing next an ornate malachite-coloured velvet chair. He or she hand one hand resting upon its shoulders, the other hidden somewhere in his/her clothing.

"Yes I summoned you. Please, take a seat." The Chief spoke in lilting tones. "I apologize if I've inconvenienced you in any by sending for you, I simply had to meet you," The Chief spun gracefully in a half circle, hair flying out and settling once more into place. "Hookocho."

Several painful seconds passed before he managed out "O-Oko."

"I beg your pardon?" The Chief asked concerned, one eyebrow lifting skyward.

"M-my name is Oko, Hookocho is merely the name given to my character on set..." He half whispered as his throat attempted to close on him.

"Oh, well in that case I implore you to forgive me for addressing you as such, I wasn't aware of what your real name was, I was simply going off of the filming, the Director, he isn't very good at paying attention to such things but he makes up for it with his impressive camera work and direction. Oh pardon me again I seem to be rambling." The Chief smiled dreamily in apology.

Oko swallowed hard finding he could contain the pressing thought in his head no longer. "You're female!" The Chief flinched briefly and Oko stammered out a swift "Sorry".

"It's quite alright," She said, waving a soft hand at his apology. "And yes I'm female, is this a problem Mr. Oko?" She beamed cheerfully.

"Well, no. I just wasn't expecting-" He started.

"The Chief to be a woman. Am I right?" She finished, he nodded and took to staring shamefully at the plush carpet. "Mr. Oko, it's fine, I get this from people all the time, including clientele, actors, to even my own staff! So you see," He felt a soft hand alight under his chin and bring his head up until he was staring into her lilac eyes- the first detail he was able to make out besides her gender due to the poor light. He could sense that he was trembling from her touch, which felt as if a thousand tiny watts of electricity were traveling from within her and into him. "It's nothing to fret over, my dear Mr. Oko." He blushed, from being surprised at her sudden appearance before him and at her very personal proximity to him.

"O-Oko is fine, none of that mister stuff." He said faintly. She removed her hand and nodded once, before moving back to her desk. After retrieving a file from some shelf she sat down in her own chair and assumed a more professional air.

She slipped on a pair of glasses and began to read outloud. "Oko, age, height, weight, everything unknown save for things that can be determined via one's own eyes. Species: elf, power: supposedly limitless, Interests: galactic conquest, played the role of one "evil alien warlord" named "Hookocho" who came to DeeDee's imaginary world called "Koosland" to kidnap its guardian "Peepers" with the intentions of absorbing his power so that he could become truly all powerful, blah blah blah destroy all Imagination and other worlds, enslave all, yadda yadda in the end is stomped on by Peepers who had turned into a dragon and killed thus saving the day." She stopped reading, removed her glasses, and grinned at him. "I admit, not the ideal for your first role huh?"

"It wasn't...exactly what I had in mind or signed up for, we went through so many changes while filming I'm not even sure what the final product looks like. Only that from this day forward I am once more out of a job and that I doubt I will be getting a callback any time soon." He sighed miserably before realizing that he should probably stop whining to the person who could possibly help him land another role.

"Did you like it any?" She asked seriously, leaning forward and pushing her chest against the desk.

Oko blinked and stared thoughtfully into his hands before answering. "It was a fun experience being able to work beside legends like Dexter and DeeDee, even meeting the great Koos, but after getting sidelined by them and the Director with nothing to show from the whole production I guess not."

"I see. Well I apologize for lacking the ability to go back and change things but I do have one small request to ask of you." She stood and walked to a monitor on the far wall. She pressed her right hand against a panel he could barely see in the murky light and out popped a screen and a small dashboard. The screen lit up and Oko watched as she fast forwarded through the episode -his episode!- and paused it abruptly, her finger resting on some dark shape on the screen. "Do you know what this is? Come closer if you cannot see, I'm sorry about the awful lighting, I have a ah, _medical_condition."

Oko rose and strided over towards the screen, squinting he recognized the shape. "It's my fortress." He turned to look at her before explaining. "We used it during the shoot because-"

"The special effects team was on strike and were too lazy to just quickly draw one. Yes I know, I'm the Chief remember?" She smiled easily, and he swallowed unwillingly despite the hard lump in his throat. "Now I'm curious Oko," She paused briefly, as if savouring the way he name floated on her tongue. "Does your "fortress" actually look like that, well, besides the cartoon screening but what I mean is, is it really a fortress?"

"Yes." He told her simply. Her skin seemed to brighten and glow a fraction at his answer.

"Would you mind taking me to see it?" She asked him breathlessly, fighting a smile as she analyzed his face.

He shrugged nonchalantly while inwardly he was accosted by four kinds of turmoil. "Sure, why not? You're the boss."

She clapped her hands together in joy before she hugged him spontaneously. It was brief but nonetheless energizing and he was left unsure of whether he should hug her back or not and in the end didn't know what to do with his hands but she was gone out of his grasp before it even mattered. "Just give me a few seconds to grab my coat and," She fetched her long coat from a hook on a wall and then pressed an unseen button on her desk. "Marylinda?" She called into a speaker.

"Yes boss?" Came a sharp voice.

"I'm stepping out for a few, cover for me yes?" She paused and smiled at Oko before gazing at the intercom like she was awaiting another response.

"Is the actor gone?" The same voice asked.

"No, he's with me, we'll only be gone for a bit, a couple hours at most." She told the person at the other end of the line.

"B-But Chief! You can't just walk out like this, we have another episode to film and you have three meetings and a voice recording to oversee! You simply cannot pull one of your disappearing acts at a time like this!" The voice spouted on and on, and finally Oko recognized it as the secretary from before- granted a very fluster and agitated one now.

"That's the whole point to you covering for me, you can oversee the filming and recording, and for the meetings, either postpone them or reschedule. There's a good girl." She tranquilly told the secretary before releasing the button, promptly silencing the secretary and her angry grumblings. "Now that that's out of the way, shall we?" She offered an arm out to him and he cautiously took it. She pulled him over to another wall and pressed another hidden panel. The wall clicked and a private elevator was revealed. "It's going to be a little cramped and I apologize for that as well."

She pushed him into the tight space before she walked in herself. She was fully pressed against Oko and because of the closeness he thought he could feel her heartbeat through the clothing she wore. Her hands were on his chest and his had managed to end up resting on her hips. He tried to move them elsewhere but he only ended up hitting glass less than one centimeter away from him. From their respective touches he could swear that he felt an electric current passing through them both.

"I use this elevator to sneak out sometimes, to get a breath of fresh air if you will. To this day Marylinda, my secretary, does not know how I do it." She chuckled musically and Oko was left wondering how on earth was it funny for one's secretary to have to babysit her boss.

The lift stopped and a chime could be heard as the doors glided open. The Chief stepped backwards out of the lift and then gracefully spun around to face their new surroundings. They were in parking garage and Oko could tell from the fluorescent lights that this was no ordinary garage containing ordinary cars. In this place there was everything from motorcycles, limos, hover vehicles, and even a small ship or two. He was awed by the luxury and peculiarity of it all and it wasn't until the Chief had come and laid a shocking hand on his arm did he snap out of his bewilderment.

He transferred his gaze onto her and was stunned to find she had donned the cloak she had brought while he was lost in his reverie. He had missed a golden opportunity to see what she looked like. "Ready?" She asked him sweetly as she snapped the gloves she was wearing into place. "Hope you don't mind but we're going to have to take one of the hovers to get there, it would be far too easy for my assistant to track us if we were to use one of the ships." She began walking towards one of the hovers, the edges of her cloak billowing out majestically behind her.

Everything was quiet save for the sound of their footsteps, his soft padding and the easy click of her heels against the concrete. She produced a set of keys from within her clothes and unlocked the hover, it purred to life under her careful touch. Once inside she lowered the lights and slid into the pilot's seat. She patted the co-pilot's chair inviting him to sit next to her.

He sat and she proceeded to set a navigational course for the journey. She paused mid-way through entering some coordinates and looked at him questioningly. "I just realized, I don't even know where exactly your fortress is located presently. Would you...?" She gestured to the touchpad, the screen showed it was awaiting the entry of the destination's digits.

"Sure." He leaned over and briefly their fingers collided and he remarked another minor electric shock as it coursed through him, this one even stronger -yet still very minute- than the ones before. He submitted a few numbers and soon the hover was cruising out of the garage and into space.

They traveled in silence, broken only by the computer's automated voice telling them they had switched from auto to manual piloting whenever the Chief would suddenly take hold of the steering column and direct them along a different route than the computer would have. Each was left to their own separate train of thoughts and Oko took this time to steal glances at the Chief while wondering what she looked like and what was up with the static that discharged whenever they came into close contact. There wasn't much to see, both the dusky light and her black cloak prevented him from viewing any details about her person.

He had been staring and analyzing her praying for something to come to light when she rapidly turned and faced him. He was startled and looked down guiltily at having been caught, but there had been a brief flash of light during which he could see her almond-shaped lilac eyes and just a hint of copper skin. If she had noticed his steadfast gaze upon her she did not comment on it but instead she pointed at the windshield before her and said, "We're here." When he looked out the window for confirmation he could indeed see his very own fortress glinting in the hover's lights.

After deactivating his building's security Oko watched in admiration as the Chief neatly disembarked the vehicle on the landing strip. The hatch opened and Oko climbed out quickly, eager to be once more in his own domain. At the sound of a struggle he whirled around to find the Chief in mid-fall, another second and she was going to crash very painfully to the ground. He rushed and caught her, one arm under one of hers and the other around her waist, she looked up as he pulled her from the vehicle and the movement caused the hood of her cloak to slip down. The initial shock was intense but the current calmed the longer he held her and he soon found that the voltage coursing between them was not at all unpleasant but was in fact rather enjoyable.

Lilac locked with periwinkle; hers a combination of surprise and sadness, his were filled with amazement and then taken over forcibly by total adoration. She broke the contact first by looking down at her hands now trapped against his broad chest. "Blasted cloak tripped me, oh the clumsiness of me." She coloured in embarrassment causing her bronze skin to darken sweetly.

He lifted her from the vehicle and set her down carefully. "Thank you." She said quietly while still not looking at him. He had time to absorb the perfection in the shape of her softened yet angular face, the smoothness that was her russet skin, the finely pointed ears that were pierced in three places on either side, and the silky layers of midnight onyx hair that disappeared into the folds of her cloak. The enchantment was broken when she lifted her cloak's hood and her face was once more shrouded by shadows.

"So are we going to stand out here all day or will you show me in Mr. Oko?" Her tone was light but contained less of the playfulness that it had carried before.

He started forward, and then doubled back to offer the Chief his arm. He did this partially to be chivalrous but mostly so that he could enjoy the electric feelings that rose whenever they touched. He couldn't understand however, why she kept such a beautiful visage like hers hidden with dark lighting and cloaks, he considered that maybe hidden beneath her cape she was really a monster or even a Gorgon and if one maintained eye contact for too long they would be turned to stone like Medusa did to unfortunate soul in Greek mythology. These thoughts were entirely preposterous and so he focused instead on the task of guiding the Chief into his abode.

It was weird giving a tour of his home to someone he had just barely met and would probably never see again after it was over. What was even more strange was that this individual was wandering around observing all the things he described while wearing clothing that completely masked her features. Here and there he would catch a flash of those lilac eyes glinting at him or see a peek of smooth auburn skin showing slightly as her elbow length gloves reached out from beneath to folds of her cloak to run her delicate fingers along an object.

After a while they paused in one of the many lounges for a brief rest. Oko left to go fetch drinks and during the time he was out of the room the Chief stood and looked out of the room's gigantic bay window. She was still observing the view of outer space when he returned. "Like what you see?" He asked with a slightly flirtatious edge as he handed her a drink.

She tilted her head to look him in the eyes, the light fell to reveal only the bottom half of her face as she replied, "Very much." with a hint of a smile ghosting her lips. He grinned and she frowned, her face turning downward as she accepted her drink.

He was puzzled as to why she seemed so sullen where before she had been extremely chipper but chose not to dwell on it. After a few more seconds of staring in silence out the window the Chief turned and collapsed on a nearby couch as if in exhaustion, her cloak fanning around her while still covering her evenly; it was very unusual for someone of her grace and status to do Oko thought. "What's wrong Chief?"

She didn't respond immediately, and chose to cover her already shielded eyes with the back of her left hand. "I don't know how to say this to you so I'll just be direct, if you don't mind that is?" She lifted her hand slightly and turned her head in his direction. He could see one shining eye watching him, waiting for an answer.

"Ok." He shrugged nonchalantly as he plopped onto a sofa of his own. "Hit me." She smirked briefly as if she might do just that, but instead went on with speaking.

"Your fortress, is just that. It's massive, powerful, amazing, all these things and yet the special effects team -no- the Director, decided to have a screen put over it and reduce it to some cheap abysmal, poorly structured, floating wreck of a space ship. I mean how you noticed how grand and spectacular your home is?" She lifts her hand from her face and stares at him, the light reflecting off of her mauve eyes.

She leans forward as she continues, unknowingly displaying more of her face as she. "Let's start with the outside of it all, it actually looks like a space fortress, half-building half-ship and everything! Giant rings to capture solar rays to power the huge thrusters for when you decide to travel through space, thousands upon thousands of lights in a variety of changing colours, and it's almost the size of a small moon!"

She pauses to breathe and Oko sits quietly in awe, he discovers to his shock that he too has sat up and is leaning towards her as she speaks. "And then the inside! Everything is so plush, modern, chic, and comfortable, even though every room has its own theme and a varying colour scheme I can't help but feel that it all connects together in a beautifully unified way. Everything is exquisite, even this room here!" She gestures expressively at the soft beige furniture and tasteful artworks on the walls. "Even in a simple lounge like this there is luxury and refinement, as well as humility. But instead of portraying this during the duration of the episode the director decided to cast off the warmth and usher in a great cold."

Her eyes darkened with her displeasure, and Oko shuddered internally. "Well, you do have to take the fact that I was acting as a villain. After all, since when do villains have nice lairs or homes to live in?" He didn't get much further before she cut him off, the intensity in her eyes silencing him.

"Yes that is all understandable, however, that does not mean I have to enjoy the great dishonour they have done to your home."

"It's no big deal honestly, it's not like I'm going to be in another episode or anything-" She slid across her couch so rapidly that he was startled and drew quiet.

"What my staff have done falls back on me, and in short, it reflects and becomes me. Therefore, I have disrespected you and for this I apologize. I had no clue they were going to turn this, this, this ark, into an oval with sharp spires sticking out of either side. Oh sure there were plenty of dark yellow lights and some impressively large windows but nothing that compares to the real thing. Everything had a dark blue or black undertone to it, save for the mahogany light panels that you see only once when you fire up the beam to drain DeeDee's imaginary world of all happiness but still nowhere close to reality. There was some promise how the spires connected with bridges and formed towers but this is never explored and is unimportant especially when paired with how the middle section of your building just looks like regular roofing on a house! And then on the inside of this facade," She shuddered violently before continuing.

"The inside is the worst part. All there is, is cold calculated machinery, seemingly scientific switches and gauges that have no major factor to them, hard unfeeling electrical devices of an inconsequential nature. Then there's that random abyss with the overhanging bridge where you meet your untimely "demise", they couldn't just you the surrounding space? No wait...they used that to make it appear that our heroes were at their end, so nevermind that point. There's only three things that I found were decently captured or appropriate during this whole debacle: one, the large bay window that you spend most of your time standing in front of, second, the elevator system that connects to the outside for comedic effect, and finally, the fact that this place is so god damn empty."

The Chief has reached the end of her couch and the two of them are as close as they can possibly get without actually touching or ending up in the other's lap. "The only thing that my staff truly captured well was tour the fact that despite the size and capacity of this facility it is terribly lonely here. And this is only further proved by the fact that we've been on this tour for over an hour with now being out first break and I can say with a strong level of certainty that we have not covered even an eighth of this building. You are alone here Mr. Oko and it pains me to see this confirmed."

By this time almost the entirety of her face has been revealed as she looked up at him with the golden light shining down on her face. It takes Oko a moment as he revels in the sight before he can respond with more than a nod. "Yes," he breathes as last. "Yes it is rather lonely here. Even though there are more rooms than I should ever care to count I am the only dweller here. I inherited this place after my parents passed and never quite got around to finding roommates. I'm not exactly a social butterfly. And even though I know you feel a grievance has been done against me, it really is no problem. I don't mind the fact that on camera my place looks absolutely ridiculous but you don't have to get all worked up over it or concerned about it for my sake. Trust me, I'm not worth it." He smiles and despite the risk reaches over and pats her hand.

Shocks pass through his hand and he pulls back feigning surprise. She ignores the entire exchange and instead speaks once more. "I'm sorry." She says suddenly, her head bowed in forlornness. "I apologize for rambling so intently and for the damage my company has done to you on my behalf."

Oko shakes his head knowing he isn't getting through to her or that she just refuses to believe that nothing wrong has happened he decides to become forceful. "Look," He reaches out gently places his fingers under her chin and pulls her face upwards. Alongside the electric current there is also a wave of deja vu as he realizes that they were in reversed positions not too long ago. "You have done nothing wrong to upset me or anything like that."

"No, you don't understand." She tells him, shaking her head enough to loosen her hood's cover over her face but not enough to shake off his hand. "I'm not just apologizing just for the filming, but also for how lonely you are and the static that connects whenever we touch."

"What?" He says softly in amazement, unable to believe that she has known about the dilemma this whole time.

"It's true." She rises and closes the tiny distance between them until she stands directly in front of him. "What if I told you Mr. Oko, that you and I, are fitting pieces to a puzzle. Counterparts in a machine. Magnets of opposing polarities that are nonetheless attracted to the other?" Her hands played nervously with the clasp to her cloak.

"Wait wait wait, hold up, so you're saying that essentially we're soul mates? Is that it?"

She flinched at the word, but nodded still. "Yes that is basically what I am insinuating."

"And you know this how?"

"Because the instant I saw you during casting, I fell in love with you." She hesitated as she noticed the one eyebrow of disbelief that had risen on his face.

"That's a pretty heavy statement but you weren't even there during casting, excuse me for saying so ma'am." His words were harsher than he wanted but he felt that if he didn't put up a fight he would appear weak and foolish as well as naive. What if this whole ordeal was a test of some kind or even worse, a proposition?

"I was there, you just couldn't see me. I sat so far in the back I blended with the shadows, nothing happens in my studio without my approval Oko but because of my...condition it was better I remain unseen." Her hands lithely undid the first clasp on her cloak, partially exposing her throat and lower part of her face. "Oko, you must accept what I say as truth, this isn't a trick or a lie or some corporate trap, I'm being serious. The currents that pass between us when we touch, the minute shocks, they're proof to my words. Have you ever experienced that when you have come into close contact to someone else?"

He thought as she undid another clasp, her collar and most of her shoulders were visible as the cloak opened. "No."

"Exactly. Neither have I and I am convinced that we are meant to be together, I apologize for the forwardness about it all."

"How can I even begin to believe someone who on a regular basis doesn't show her appearance to others? Besides, you're my boss!"

She frowned in displeasure. "Oko...that is because...I am for your eyes only to see." Another clasp became undone fully exposing her shoulders, and chest. He could see she had some kind of strapless hazy purple dress on, the V-cut in it dipping low into her cleavage. She was running out of clasps before everything would be revealed.

He shook his head and said "What." as the information set in.

"It's the truth, I do have a condition, while not precisely medical but a problem nonetheless. My physiology is...complicated, you see every person who lays eyes on me -save for the rare souls that have the willpower and inner strength to not be swayed- is instantly transfixed by my appearance. This has been more curse than asset because sure, it's fabulous to be beautiful in today's society but their affection was immature and false. It's a fake adoration, bordering more on worship than on actual love and causes me a great deal of problems. Growing up was so difficult to the point that I had to be privately educated at home, holding a job was impossible because my boss or co-workers were constantly coming onto me, and developing meaningful relationships with other people? Downright impossible." Two more clasps came undone, and Oko could see more of her dress and body.

It was slinky but loose and somehow still professional despite its summery appearance. Sections were cut out exposing most of her sides before continuing at the center where it trailed and then expanded flowing over her hips daintily. She wasn't very tall but was enough to give her the appearance that her body never ended. (tentative) The knelt briefly to undo the last clasp, unveiling her sculpted legs that were caressed by the shin length dress and cloak alike.

Her hair had become revealed and he could see that it was a mesmerizing shiny black in colour and that the texture must be softer and silkier than a cloud itself. It cascaded freely to her waist, her locks weaving through one another while still maintaining its wavy straightness.

Oko felt the same desire as before when he gazed upon her -the memory of which, had somehow turned to fog- but the feeling was cleaner, more pure and far less devious than intense craving. His throat closed on him and gazed at the dark hidden expanse that was her face and we awaited the image to be completed.

"Oko. You must decide. Will you believe me, or will you choose to prolong our alienation for possibly all of eternity? You must choose, and it has to be now." She frowned as he winced at the severity of her words.

He pondered everything she had said and what he had felt. The room grew heavy with the quiet to the point that she sank to her knees before him, in absolute anguish at what she was sure a negative answer. "Chief..." he whispered, she looked up instantly, her eyes radiating hope as they locked with his certain ones. He took her hands in his and stroked them softly. "I choose to believe you."

Slowly, he relinquished her hands and once they were free she brought them up to the hood of her cloak and lowered it. With nothing to maintain its place upon her frame the cloak floated to the ground now forgotten. Their eyes never breaking she pulled off her gloves one by one, and cast them aside.

Her smile was breathtaking, even more so than her flawless face and Oko found he was utterly transfixed, not by her total beauty but by the honesty he felt in his answer. When she reached a shaking hand out he easily interlocked it with his and the circuit that coursed through him excelled the feeling of "rightness" that surrounded them both. She crept closer, sliding easily into his lap while never letting her gaze leave his. She placed her free hand on his cheek and leaned in.

The kiss was a dizzying combination of passion, drive from years of emotional isolation, and sheer unadulterated love. It continued without break as they solidified their new connection. As they lay with their arms wrapped around the other, breathing heavily but steadily, she nuzzled against him and whispered, "I love you, Oko."

He smiled and she could feel his happiness course throughout her entire frame. "I love you as well, Chief."

She giggled sweetly, and kissed him once more before saying. "Call me Ai."

END

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Author's Remarks: So, I hope you like the story and the Chief aka "Ai" along with all of her staff are my OC property. Should anyone feel the need to write a fanfiction of their own featuring Oko, I can link you to the episode as well as give you plenty of reference material that I collected on my own. Also, if anyone wants to take a look at the amazing images I used to obtain descriptions for Oko or his fortress I have that as well. Reviews are welcome and very much appreciated, as are questions. Thank you for reading and ciao~


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